Frankie Lymon

Birth Name:

Franklin Joseph Lymon

Birth Date:

September 30, 1942

Birth Place:

Harlem, New York

Death Date:

February 27, 1968

Place of Death:

470 W 165th Street, New York, New York

Age:

Cause of Death:

Heroin overdose

Cemetery Name:

Saint Raymond's Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Music

Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers were five kids from Washington Heights, just north of Harlem where they sang doo-wop under the streetlight on the corner of 165th and Amsterdam. After just a few months of rehearsal they cut their first record, “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” which made it to the top of the national charts. It was 1956 and overnight Frankie Lymon was the hottest singer in America, off on a world tour. At 13-years old he was the hottest singer on the charts, at 14 he quit to go solo, at 16 he was a has-been and at age 25 he was dead of a heroin overdose.

Fun Fact

In 1981 a major controversy concerning Lymon’s estate ensued. Zola Taylor, Elizabeth Waters and Emira Eagle each approached Morris Levy, the producer, label owner and mobbed-up self- described music impresario who retained possession of Lymon’s copyrights and his royalties (and stole from hundreds of other artists). Problem was that each of the women were claiming to be Lymon’s rightful widow and … (wait for it) … Lymon had neglected to divorce any of them. The complex issue resulted in lawsuits and counter-lawsuits, and in 1986 the first of several court cases concerning the ownership of Lymon’s estate began. Watch the movie Why Do Fools Fall In Love to understand the entire mess.